{"id":2313,"date":"2017-10-29T13:05:40","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T17:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2017-10-29T13:05:40","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T17:05:40","slug":"30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a\/","title":{"rendered":"30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A"},"content":{"rendered":"

30th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\nExodus 22:20-26
\nPsalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
\n1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
\nMatthew 22:34-40
\nOctober 29, 2017<\/p>\n

Last week we heard how the Pharisees \u201cplotted how they might entrap Jesus<\/em> by asking him a question about paying the census tax.\u00a0 If you look at the Gospel of Matthew, you will see next comes the story of the Sadducees questioning him about the resurrection, citing the example of a woman married sequentially to seven brothers.\u00a0 They too want to test him but also were not successful in their goal to trap him.<\/p>\n

Today, once again a Pharisee who was a scholar of the law sought to test him by asking, \u201cTeacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The scripture is clear that the scholar did this to test him<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Thus, the scholar\u2019s motives are not pure.\u00a0 Nonetheless, he asked a question we might all like to know, which commandment is the greatest.\u00a0 Why do we want to know the answer?\u00a0 What is our motivation?<\/p>\n

Our motivation in seeking the answer might be to take a minimalistic approach, which is the greatest so that we could follow just that one.<\/p>\n

Or our motivations might be more pure.\u00a0 We intend to follow God\u2019s will, but it isn\u2019t easy, so we look to grow in stages and desire to know which is most important to start there.<\/p>\n

We think in terms of the Ten<\/em><\/strong> Commandments (as found in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 6:6-21).\u00a0 Ten might not seem too difficult but we might each find at least one or two particularly challenging for us.<\/p>\n

Now, take the list of Ten Commandments and expand it to 613 for that is the number of commandments based on scripture listed in the Talmud (Jewish civil and ceremonial law).\u00a0 Among these 613 are what we hear in today\u2019s first reading that comes shortly after the giving of the Ten Commandments.\u00a0 You shall not molest or oppress an alien,\u2026You shall not wrong any widow or orphan,\u2026you shall not act like an extortioner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now, knowing which is the greatest commandment becomes all the more important.\u00a0 So, what does Jesus say the greatest commandment is?\u00a0 \u201cYou shall love the Lord, your God, with all<\/strong> your heart, with all<\/strong> your soul, and with all <\/strong>your mind.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Hum\u2026won\u2019t you think the greatest commandment would be found in the Ten?\u00a0 Jesus goes on to provide the second greatest commandment, \u201cYou shall love your neighbor as yourself<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Likewise, we don\u2019t see this listed as one of the Ten Commandments.<\/p>\n

While neither is listed in the Ten, both are found in the Bible.\u00a0 The first, love God, is found in Deuteronomy 6:5 (not far after the listing of the Ten in the previous chapter).\u00a0 The second, love your neighbor is found in Leviticus 19:18.<\/p>\n

I want to note that I said neither of the two greatest commandments are listed<\/em><\/strong> in the Ten.\u00a0 I said listed because these two really sum up the Ten.\u00a0 Love your God encapsulates the first three commandments while love your neighbor gets to the heart of commandments four through ten.\u00a0 If we want to follow God, we need to love God.\u00a0 If we want to love God, we must love our neighbor (That\u2019s why Jesus provided a second commandment even though he was only asked for one.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have one without the other.).<\/p>\n

What does it mean to love?<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t see a lot of love between politicians. \u00a0We don\u2019t see love from terrorists or violent offenders. \u00a0Where do we find love?<\/p>\n

We love in different ways.\u00a0 There is the love between family members.\u00a0 There is the love that happens between a man and a woman coming together as husband and wife.\u00a0 This is a different sort of love than between family members or close friends.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just that we love a spouse more.\u00a0 It\u2019s different.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to understand.\u00a0 Perhaps that is why we struggle in relationships like marriage or even general friendships.\u00a0 We are even called to love strangers.\u00a0 How can we love someone we don\u2019t know?<\/p>\n

If we love someone, then we should want them to be happy but it isn\u2019t just about making them happy.\u00a0 Even with strangers we should have high regard for them, treating them as God\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

At times, love can mean forgiving. \u00a0Forgiving isn\u2019t always easy.\u00a0 In the first reading we hear the Lord say, \u201cI will kill you<\/em>\u201d if we break the commandments.\u00a0 That certainly doesn\u2019t sound loving or forgiving.<\/p>\n

Does God really kill us for our sins?\u00a0 First, we need to think about what sin is.\u00a0 It is turning away from God to do what we want.\u00a0 That means WE ARE<\/em><\/strong> separating ourselves from God.\u00a0 Separation from God is death.<\/p>\n

God does not want to kill us.\u00a0 We do it to ourselves.\u00a0 God wants to give us true life, not death.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God sent Jesus to die for us, to take away our sins so that we might live.<\/p>\n

If we love God, we will not take his name in vain.\u00a0 If we love our neighbor, we will not steal from them or covet their property.\u00a0 We will not bear false witness against them.<\/p>\n

Moving from a list of don\u2019ts for those we love, let us turn to some positive do\u2019s.\u00a0 Do keep the sabbath holy.\u00a0 Do show your love for God by coming to Mass and hearing his word.<\/p>\n

Do show your love for the gift of faith by sharing that faith.\u00a0 For parents and grandparents, it means sharing your faith with your children and grandchildren.\u00a0 For others, we can share our faith by helping in our children\u2019s and youth faith formation program.\u00a0 Or you might help teach our RCIA to adults who wish to join our faith.<\/p>\n

Maybe teaching is not your thing?\u00a0 How about helping in our Martha Ministry that hosts our funeral luncheons to offer support to the families of the deceased.\u00a0 You can help cook or serve.<\/p>\n

How about contributing to our Poor Fund that we use to provide gift cards for food and gas to those in need?<\/p>\n

How about beyond our parish?\u00a0 I know we have several parishioners involved in Catholic Charities as well as Habitat for Humanity and Laurel House.\u00a0 There\u2019s CareNet.\u00a0 Participating in any of these parish or community groups can help demonstrate your love for your neighbor.<\/p>\n

Lastly, but always important, we need to pray for everyone to receive what they need.<\/p>\n

Going back to the topic of motivation, don\u2019t do any of these to get into Heaven.\u00a0 Do them because your love God and your neighbor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Exodus 22:20-26 Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10 Matthew 22:34-40 October 29, 2017 Last week we heard how the Pharisees \u201cplotted how they might entrap Jesus by asking him a question about paying the census tax.\u00a0 If you look at the Gospel of Matthew, you will …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[360,43,361,348],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Bj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2315,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions\/2315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}